Mahana Group · About
Two legacies. One vision. Built to last.
Mahana Group is an emerging force in the Asia-Pacific furniture and design industry — founded by two of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most experienced and respected names in design, manufacturing, and wood. A group built with intention and reach — one that will define the standard for design-led custom furniture across the region.
The name
We chose the name Mahana with care. In te reo Māori it speaks to warmth, light, and the quiet permanence that considered design brings to a space. It is not decoration — it is intention. The values it holds are the values we work by.
Mahana — warmth, sunny, filled with light · Te Reo Māori
Our vision
To be the Asia-Pacific’s most trusted source of design-led custom furniture.
Designed in Aotearoa New Zealand and exported across the Asia-Pacific region — MahanaMade pieces find their place in hotels, restaurants, retail spaces, and residences from Auckland to Singapore and beyond. Our
manufacturing partnerships in the region mean we are close to our markets, responsive to our clients, and able to deliver at any scale without compromise.
NZ
All design & prototyping in Aotearoa New Zealand
AP
Asia-Pacific export focus — active markets across the region
4+
Generations of combined timber, wood, and manufacturing heritage
Two families. Generations of making things well. One shared belief — that design-led furniture, produced with integrity, should be available to any project at any scale.
Mahana Group · Aotearoa New Zealand
The founders
Mahana Group was formed by two people who share generations of background in their respective areas of the industry — one in design and making, one in wood products and manufacturing.
Together they bring a depth of expertise and shared ambition that defines everything the group does.
James Turner
James Turner is one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most respected furniture designers and makers — an award-winning practitioner whose work is defined by an exacting standard of craft and a deeply considered design sensibility.
He comes from a multi-generational furniture and joinery manufacturing family, and that lineage is visible in everything he produces.
As the founder of Maelstrom Design in Otautahi Christchurch, James has built a reputation for creating furniture and interior pieces that endure — in the spaces they inhabit and in the industry’s estimation. His studio is where every MahanaMade piece begins: conceived, prototyped, and refined before a single production order is placed. It is this foundation of considered design that drives the group’s export ambition across AsiaPacific.
Award-winning designer · Multi-generational making family · Founder, Maelstrom Design · Otautahi Christchurch
Rodney McVicar
The McVicar family has been part of Aotearoa New Zealand’s timber and wood products industry for four generations. Rodney brings that heritage into Mahana Group alongside more than 40 years of hands-on experience across design, manufacturing, and wood products — always driven by a belief that innovation and quality should never come at the expense of commercial practicality.
A natural innovator with a strong design sensibility, Rodney has spent his career finding better ways to bring well-made products to market — including his leadership at Buildpro Group, where he developed deep expertise in manufacturing operations and supply chain. Mahana Group is his latest venture, and in many ways his most personal — a chance to bring design, craft, and commercial scale together under one roof, and take it to the world.
Rodney carries deep Ngāi Tahu ancestry. The values that run through the name Mahana — warmth, care for people, connection to land and material — are not borrowed. They are whakapapa.
Four-generation timber and wood products family · Ngāi Tahu · Buildpro Group
What we stand for
Design integrity
Good design is visible in a room and felt in daily life. We make furniture and objects that belong where they are placed — considered in every detail, and built for longevity — in the spaces they inhabit and the lives lived around them.
Craft without compromise
James Turner’s making practice is built on generations of furniture and joinery knowledge — an instinct for material, proportion, and finish that no specification sheet can fully capture. That standard runs through every MahanaMade piece
Delivery without exception
On time, to specification, at the standard agreed. Our reputation has been earned across two family legacies. We do not treat it lightly.
Scale without dilution
One piece or one thousand — the design, the material, and the finish are identical. Our Asia-Pacific export model is built on this principle. Growth does not justify a lower standard. It demands a higher one.
Manaaki — care for our clients
We treat every brief with genuine care and respect — from first enquiry to final installation. The relationship matters as much as the result.
Kaitiakitanga — stewardship
We are mindful of material, of provenance, of environmental responsibility. Making things that last — objects and spaces that endure — is the most sustainable thing we can do.
Under Mahana Group
Commercial furniture supply · Asia-Pacific export
MahanaMade
Our Asia-Pacific commercial supply and export arm. Custom furniture designed in Aotearoa New Zealand, produced with our select manufacturing partners, and delivered to projects of any scale — to specification, on time, across the region.
Design, prototyping & fit-outs
Maelstrom Design
James Turner’s Otautahi Christchurch studio — where every MahanaMade piece is conceived, prototyped, and refined. Commercial fit-outs, bespoke furniture, and the craft foundation of the group.
Ready to talk about
your project?
Our Otautahi Christchurch studio is where concepts are tested, materials are selected, and prototypes are refined before a single production order is placed. The craft foundation behind everything MahanaMade delivers.